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Regional apparent diffusion coefficient values in 3rd trimester fetal brain

  • Paediatric Neuroradiology
  • Published:
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Abstract

Introduction

Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values in the developing fetus can be used in the diagnosis and prognosis of prenatal brain pathologies. To this end, we measured regional ADC in a relatively large cohort of normal fetal brains in utero.

Methods

Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) was performed in 48 non-sedated 3rd trimester fetuses with normal structural MR imaging results. ADC was measured in white matter (frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes), basal ganglia, thalamus, pons, and cerebellum. Regional ADC values were compared by one-way ANOVA with gestational age as covariate. Regression analysis was used to examine gestational age-related changes in regional ADC. Four other cases of CMV infection were also examined.

Results

Median gestational age was 32 weeks (range, 26–33 weeks). There was a highly significant effect of region on ADC, whereby ADC values were highest in white matter, with significantly lower values in basal ganglia and cerebellum and the lowest values in thalamus and pons. ADC did not significantly change with gestational age in any of the regions tested. In the four cases with fetal CMV infection, ADC value was associated with a global decrease.

Conclusion

ADC values in normal fetal brain are relatively stable during the third trimester, show consistent regional variation, and can make an important contribution to the early diagnosis and possibly prognosis of fetal brain pathologies.

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Ethical standards and patient consent

We declare that all human and animal studies have been approved by the Institutional Review Board and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. We declare that patient consent was waived in this study.

Conflict of interest

We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer (affiliated to the Sackler School of Medicine), Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Chen Hoffmann, Gal Yaniv & Dafi Bergman

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer (affiliated to the Sackler School of Medicine), Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Boaz Weisz, Shlomo Lipitz & Eldad Katorza

  3. Department of Neurology, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, Stony Brook, NY, USA

    Anat Biegon

  4. Diagnostic Imaging, Sheba Medical Center, 52621, Tel Hashomer, Israel

    Chen Hoffmann

Authors
  1. Chen Hoffmann
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  2. Boaz Weisz
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  3. Shlomo Lipitz
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  4. Gal Yaniv
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  5. Eldad Katorza
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  6. Dafi Bergman
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  7. Anat Biegon
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chen Hoffmann.

Additional information

Chen Hoffmann and Boaz Weisz contributed equally to the manuscript.

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Hoffmann, C., Weisz, B., Lipitz, S. et al. Regional apparent diffusion coefficient values in 3rd trimester fetal brain. Neuroradiology 56, 561–567 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-014-1359-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-014-1359-6

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